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Tangent Devices Wave Panel vs. Euphonix MC Color (Avid Artist Color) – FIGHT!
I’m an editor turned colorist and I’m looking to buy a panel for Resolve. My mouse hand is getting tired and I’m realizing how much more efficient I can (hopefully) be if I get a panel. I’m not a power-user yet and I can’t afford a JL Cooper or a CP200 (both of which I’ve seen in action. Drool) so I need to know from some users who have hopefully tried both what the advantages and drawbacks are of each.
I do primarily low-budget HD films, web content and music videos.
Resolve 8.1
Decklink Multibridge Pro
Mac 2,1 with a Quadro 4000And I work on a rather small desk so space is at a premium.
Any advice will be appreciated. SOUND OFF!
Thanks,
Chris -
19 Replies
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Look for support on the other applications you need, Redcine X and similar stuff? If you will be using Avid 6 than for sure MC Color, because it will be supported in Avid 6, not sure for Wave.
Tangent is loud on pressing the buttons, I dont like the clicking sound, but on the other hand the MC Color is so soft sometimes you don’t know if you have even pressed the button. But hey, if you have an option to put your hands on both… than it is just the ergonomics u prefer! They are both the same, for this price/performance stunning!
Color grade reel: https://vimeo.com/15480583
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NOTE: This is also coming out at some point.. No word on if Davinci will support it but looks interesting.
https://www.tangentdevices.co.uk/products_element.asp -
I’ve owned both and unfortunately you’re going to have a love hate relationship with either one. At the end of the day they’re both very budget panels with lots of drawbacks.
Wave:
Buttons are fast to press, with very little downforce. You get 9 bank knobs which is 3 more than MC Color which is good. The pages are fairly well designed, but you’re still going to be switching between pages a lot. The shuttle wheels are wobbly but the trackballs are fairly stable and smooth and have metal bearings.It looks ugly and has a lot of empty space but it is fairly comfortable from an ergonomics perspective.
MC Color:
I love having dedicated grade copy/paste buttons. The trackwheels are extremely smooth and the trackballs are okay. Plastic bearings make me afraid they will one day wear out and stop being smooth but I haven’t experienced that yet.You have 9 soft keys which are modified by 4 alt keys, so theoretically you have fast access to 45 functions. I’ve just found it hard to memorize where they all are but I’m getting better at that.
The biggest problem with MC Color is in DaVinci’s choice of button assignment though – for example next shot/previous shot is an alt key maneuver, which makes it very annoying to navigate the timeline. This, in all honesty, is my biggest problem with the board.
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Ideally you’ll want to get into a store that has both so you can really sit down and make your own judgement call. There’s quite the split in preference but at the end of the day it’s just a tool, a great budget friendly tool at that – either one will speed up your grading considerably. However, if desk space is really really at a premium I think the AVID panel is what you’re looking for.
Ben Starkey
Digital Colorist -
Buy the wave, get a grading job for not less than 1000 bucks a day, work 5 days , sell the Wave and get the Element 🙂
A slice of color…
DaVinci 8.0.1 OSX 10.7
MacPro 5.1 2×2,4 24GB
RAID0 8TB eSata 6TB
GTX 470 / GT 120
Extreme 3D+ WAVE -
[Sascha Haber] “Buy the wave, get a grading job for not less than 1000 bucks a day, work 5 days , sell the Wave and get the Element :)”
Ha!
Between Steps 1 and 2 I would like to add a few other “sub-steps.”
- Pay off Student Loans
- Rent new office that isn’t technically a “broom-closet”
- Buy and consume food that isn’t either “instant” or “noodle” or both
- Repay that “Mob Boss” for that “thing”
But seriously, point taken. After reading all these responses (thanks, by the way) I think for my level and for what I need, either will be fine. But since I do use Media Composer and am planning on upgrading to MC6, plus the footprint seems to be a little smaller, I think I’ll probably go for the MC Color. Then do what Sascha suggested x10 and get a CP200…. someday.
Thanks again, everyone.
-C
Chris Meagher
Editor/Colorist
North Hollywood, CA
chrismeagher at mac dot com -
CP-200 will be a nice ornament for your desktop, as it is not supported by Resolve. And so is Elements:-)
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[jake blackstone] “CP-200 will be a nice ornament for your desktop, as it is not supported by Resolve. And so is Elements:-)”
Which is PRECISELY why I posted this discussion. Because I obviously can’t be bothered to actually do my own research.
Chris Meagher
Editor/Colorist
North Hollywood, CA
chrismeagher at mac dot com -
You can map keyboard shortcuts to the function keys. I.e. I mapped the “next shot/previous shot” keys to the function keys next to the official “next shot/previous frame” buttons (without any alt key maneuver). This is very handy.
Yes, it’s hard to memorize 36 function keys. I printed a 4×9 table with all my individual function keys and stuck it to the monitor..
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Does anyone have a map of how the WAVE is supposed to be layed out for Resolve? I have the impression that it is malfunctioning because it’s a bloody mess on my board.
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